California Real Estate

The median price paid for all Southern California homes sold in December 2017 was $507,000, a new all-time high that surpasses the previous peak of $505,000.
Absentee buyers (investors and second home purchasers) bought 22.9% of Southland homes sold in December 2017. The peak was 32.2% in February 2013. The monthly average for absentee buyers since 2000 is about 18.0%.

The number of homes that sold for $500,000 or more in December 2017 accounted for 51.3% of all sales. That is up from 45.4% in December 2016.

Foreclosure re-sales (properties foreclosed on in the prior 12 months) represented 1.4% of the Southland re-sale market in December 2017. That was down from 2.9% in December 2016. Foreclosure resales peaked at 56.7% in February 2009.

Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Loans made up 16.1% of all home purchase loans in Southern California in December 2017. Riverside and San Bernardino counties experienced the region’s highest FHA share in December at 25.1% and 26.9% respectively.

With keen awareness of California’s shortage of affordable housing, the legislature passed more than 20 bills related to housing in this year’s session.

Chief among these laws is Senate Bill 2.

This law provides a permanent source of funding for affordable housing by imposing a flat $75 per document recording fee on every real estate instrument that is NOT part of a sales transaction. In this way, SB 2 is written to ensure that the fee will not burden home purchase transactions.

The fee will be capped at $225 per transaction and coordinated with other revenue sources.

C.A.R. supported SB 2 which dedicates 20% of the funds generated to affordable workforce housing and 70% of revenues to local governments for housing.

Gary and April Greer Connecting Buyers and Sellers since 1998 (951) 522-0518 or april@teamgreer.com

With the economy expected to continue growing, housing demand should remain strong and incrementally boost California’s housing market in 2018, though a shortage of available homes for sale and affordability constraints will be a challenge, according to the 2018 California Housing Market Forecast, released by California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.).

“Solid job growth and favorable interest rates will drive a strong demand for housing next year,” said C.A.R. President Geoff McIntosh. “However, a persistent shortage of homes for sale and increasing home prices will dictate the market as housing affordability diminishes for buyers struggling to get into the market.”

The forecast sees a modest gain in existing single-family home sales of 1.0% next year, up slightly from the projected sales figure of 421,900 units for 2017. The 2017 figure is 1.3% higher compared to 2016.

The average for 30-year, fixed mortgage interest rates will increase slightly to 4.3% in 2018, up from 4.0% in 2017 and 3.6% in 2016, but still will remain low by historical standards.

The California median home price is forecast to increase 4.2% to $561,000 in 2018, following a projected 7.2% increase in 2017 to $538,500.

All information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Taken from CAR.org 10/17/17

• Statewide, existing single-family home sales totaled 436,920 in September, up 2.2% from August and up 1.6% from September 2016.
• September’s statewide median home price was $555,410, down 1.8% from August and up 7.5% from September 2016.
• All the major regions experienced month-to-month and annual sales declines, with sales in the San Francisco Bay Area declining 4.2% from a year ago, the Inland Empire falling 4.0%, and the Los Angeles metro region decreasing 2.5% from September 2016.
• Statewide active listings continued to decline, dropping 11.2% from a year ago.
• C.A.R.’s Unsold Inventory Index fell from 3.5 months in September 2016 to 3.2 months in September 2017. The index measures the number of months needed to sell the supply of homes on the market at the current sales rate. A six-to-seven-month supply is typical in a normal market.
• The median number of days it took to sell a single-family home was 20 days in September 2017, compared with 18 days in August and 28 days in September of 2016.
• C.A.R.’s sales price-to-list price ratio was 99.1% statewide in September 2017, 99.5% in August and 98.6% in September 2016. At the county level, San Francisco had the highest ratio at 116.6% and Mariposa had the lowest at 92.5%.
• Mortgage rates declined further in September as the 30-year, fixed-mortgage interest rate averaged 3.81%, down from 3.88% in August but was up from 3.46% in September 2016, according to Freddie Mac.
• All information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. For tax, investment or ownership advice we suggest you contact an attorney or certified public accountant.
• Median = half more/half less. Taken from CAR.ORG 10/24/17